"Main" constraints on solidworks

[jerome42]

Hello

On a machine that combines several movements whose constraints are arranged in several different levels of sub-assemblies, I have constraints that interest me more than others.

Like what:
- Rod output distance cylinder 1
- Rod output distance cylinder 2
- Crank angle 1
- Angular position indexing plate 1
...
...

Is it possible to group these interesting constraints in the same place, quickly accessible for modification?

Goal:
- Move the machine quickly.
- have a kind of "dashboard" for setting up the main movements.
- avoid having to define configurations in the subassemblies that will multiply in the top assembly by all possible combinations of the different positions.

Thanks in advance

[stefbeno]

- If the constraints are defined in a subset, they will only be accessible at that level.
- a solution is to place your actuators at the general level by breaking them down or making them flexible (i.e. for a cylinder, the output distance is not defined in the cylinder but at the level of the general ASM)
- You will then be able to group the driving constraints in a subfolder of the Constraints folder of the general ASM.

If your machine has a lot of S/E, I'm not sure that this method is much more efficient than making configurations: flexible asms stacked on several levels quickly tend to be capricious and consume a lot of resources.

[max59]

There is the "constraint pilot" tool:

https://www.visiativ-industry.fr/pilote-de-contraintes-solidworks/

[Zozo_mp]

Hello max59 and @tous

I draw your attention that constraint driver has limits very quickly.

These limits are the number of possible actions that can be programmed (I would say less than a dozen).

In addition, the activation of these piloted constraints is not easy (to say M....... ic).

Moreover, it does not seem to me to be suitable for the case of @jérome42 .

@Jérome 42

I suggest you use the "create a folder" function.

1. You go to the first constraint that you want to follow and you right-click on this constraint and it creates a subfolder "under mates 1' in the main mates folder. Subfolder that you can rename by double-clicking on it.
2. You take your constraint and you move it with drag, drop in the subfolder "Submates 1".
3. Obviously, you can move this subfolder to the top of the tree of all mates. On the other hand, you can't put these subfolders outside the main folder of the mates (double paperclip symbol - Mates .)

Be careful not to make a mistake in creating this subfolder because you have two places to do it.

 Do you do it in the feature manager and this allows you to make the groupings you want (parts, sub-assemblies, screws, etc....):
 BUT you can't drag your mates into these folders.

Only subfolders created in the Constraints area (the double trombones - Mates ) allow you to drag and drop the constraints that interest you.
You don't have a limit in the creation of subfolders though: if you want to find your way around, you'd better activate the breadcrumb trail.
If you have the version higher than 2017 you have the little icons that give you in the screen outside the feature manager all the information about set, s/s sets and especially constraints with their names. Thus, it becomes very easy to know where you are and what is attached to what and to whom.

Hey Wow!

Kind regards

[jerome42]

Thank you for your answers

@zozo_mp
Without using the folders, what you propose is a bit like what we are doing now.
Important constraints, we name them with a name that means something, we capitalize them, and we move them to the top of the list of constraints. Remarkable values are also added to the names. For example, distance126 becomes JACK-0-200. It's a shame that we can't group together somewhere in the TOP assembly "shortcuts" to all these constraints.

@max59
I started this week to try a little bit of constraint driver which looks interesting to me. I haven't done the test yet because I'm currently on a simple machine: can we group constraints from several sub-levels?

@stefbeno
It's difficult to organize a project like this.
Each sub-assembly having its specific movements, it is not possible for me to reassemble the actuator in the top assembly. The study file would lose its coherence.
For flexible assemblies; I agree, it goes "live" very quickly.
For the configs, it's very very heavy.
If I take the example of a car.

Let's say that the opening of the bonnet is in the engine SE.
2 configs: door open door closed.

Let's say the trunk opening is in the rear SE.
2 configs: door open door closed.

Let's say that the driver's window opening is in the SE front left door.
2 configs: door open door closed.

In the top, you have to make configs:
Hood closed, trunk closed, window closed
Hood closed, trunk closed, window open
Hood closed, trunk open, window closed
Hood closed, trunk open, window open
...
...
It's quickly a big mess, and even more so if there are several levels of subsets: a very time-consuming puzzle.

That's why a dashboard grouping the parameters from the different subsets would be very useful to me.
It is also very useful for finding your way around a file from another design office, or even a file from our design office that we dealt with some time ago and whose organization we forgot.
 

[sbadenis]

Same Zozo_mp , use of pilot constraint file is too restrictive in my opinion for several movements